Alper and Rudolph Unanimously Reelected to Lead RTC

What was said behind closed doors Wednesday night is for Republican Town Committee members alone to know, but when they emerged from executive session, the RTC swiftly and unanimously reelected their leadership.

The events leading up to the actual vote did not proceed without issue. Several RTC members, including Mike Kaelin and State Sen. Toni Boucher, were adamant about allowing absent committee members to participate in the meeting via telephone. A debate followed as to whether that was an allowable procedure and would need to be added to the agenda (and, thus, would require a vote) or was simply a procedural move.

"I've called in from a ship in a blizzard," said Vice Chairman Mike Rudolph. "There have been times to have call-ins and I don't think this is the time for it."

There was also an early motion by Kaelin to move into executive session, which prompted Al Alper (the RTC's acting chairman, who was elected temporary chair for the evening's proceedings) to call for a vote. Of the 33 members present, 20 voted in favor and Alper initially indicated that this did not meet the 2/3 majority required to prompt the closed-door session.

"I don't think we should go into executive session," Rudolph had said before the vote. "We're the Republican Town Committee and we do things openly...I think it's fitting that anything we have to say should be said in public."

The meeting continued but a short while later, after reviewing the committee's bylaws, Kaelin pointed out that only a simple majority was needed for the closed door forum to take place. Therefore, all non-RTC members (this reporter and First Selectman Bill Brennan) were asked to leave while an hour-long private discussion took place.

When the discussion concluded, RTC members unanimously reelected Alper to his chairman's position and Rudolph to his vice chairman's position. Alper and Rudolph were the only two nominated to lead the RTC and Rudolph respectfully declined the nomination, indicating his support for Alper.

"It's with great pleasure that I would like to renominate Al Alper," Rudolph said earlier. "He has served us faithfully over the last two years, he is the hardest working individual I've ever seen, he represents Republican principles, and I think we'd be honored to have him serve another two years for us."

Kaelin and Boucher were among those who initially did not seem to support Alper's reelection. Boucher, in particular, openly stated that she wanted to know precisely how Alper intended to bring more female members into the party, how he planned to support Republican candidates for various offices and how he planned to make them "a more inclusive party" going forward.

Apparently whatever was said in executive session allayed any concerns, however, as Alper received all 33 votes afterward. Boucher added at the end of the evening that she was pleased with the decision and was excited to move forward "together as a unified party."

Following his reelection, Alper thanked the committee for their votes of confidence and immediately pointed out that he was excited to be at the head of a party in town that had noticed "a significant uptick" in registration over the last couple months, including 14 new members.

"The trend, which was on the downside during the Obama wave, is reversing," he said. "I believe what's going on at the state and federal level and the efforts of the 40 members of the past RTC are responsible for that."

Of 11,247 voters in Wilton as of the beginning of March, Alper noted that 4,165 (37 percent) were Republican, 3,034 were Democrat (27 percent) and 4,031 (36 percent) were unaffiliated.